Not that I need to remind you all, but I don’t give a flying duck about the Eurovision – normally. This is certainly not a reflection on the singer who was representing Malta this year. For starters, Ira Losco is a lovely human being, and for seconds she certainly does not need her considerable talent validated by a song contest that wouldn’t know decent music if it hit it with a baton.

But for reasons that I will explain shortly, this year I cared. I only started caring after the winner was announced and I realised that the winning song was far from being the usual eurothrash we’ve come to expect. We are all used to the perennial whining about how the contest is all ‘political’ – turns out that this year, it really was. And I’m not referring to the voting system, but to genuine politics that make a difference.

Ukraine’s winning entry, 1944, was a tribute to all those Crimean Tatars who were deported/killed under the Stalinist regime in the early 1940s. It was also a none-too-subtle reference to Putin’s annexation of Crimea a mere two years ago.

1944 is by no means a great song. And yet it won, solely on the strength of the voters’ choices. Because enough people around the world figured out that some things are more important than how much glitter can fit in your outfit.

1944 is by no means a great song. And yet it won, solely on the strength of the voters’ choices. Because enough people around the world figured out that some things are more important than how much glitter can fit in your outfit.

Now that’s the kind of Eurovision political voting I can really get behind. In fact, had I had a clue about the story behind Ukraine’s entry, I would actually have done something about it and voted.

You might say that what happened in the 1940s is now past, irrelevant to our daily lives, and that it should not be dragged into a song contest in the post-noughties. That’s as may be. However, what is happening in Russia today is certainly not irrelevant to our daily lives. Not if we claim to have a conscience, anyway.

Someone was kind enough on social media to point out that there are two sides to every story, that Putin’s critics are brainwashed by ‘Western media’. If only. Unfortunately, reality is that Western leaders and media are only too quick to dance to Putin’s tune.

In the meantime, Putin continues to ride roughshod over human rights, with no-one – not the EU, and much less the US – having quite the balls to bring him back in line.

In the meantime, three editors who dared run an expose' about financial corruption surrounding Putin’s family were made to resign after alleged pressure from the Kremlin.

In the meantime, a peaceful protest on the streets of Russia will get you 15 years in prison.

In the meantime, distributing information about LGBT rights in Russia is a crime.

The human rights violations continue, with the Human Rights Watch drawing up a list of violations that is pretty much never-ending. You would think the leaders of the ‘free world’ would recoil in horror. But no. The the leaders of the ‘free world’ allowed Putin’s dictatorship to host the Winter olympics in 2014, the same year Putin was busy invading Eastern Ukraine.

The leaders of the ‘free world’ were also fine with giving Putin the diplomatic sign of approval for the country to take part in the Eurovision, with the potential opportunity to host the contest in 2017. This, despite the protests of many human rights activists.

Because, apparently, the leaders of the western world care more about what Putin can do to the collective coffers than about doing the right thing.

How is Ukraine’s Eurovision victory going to make a difference, you may ask. It won’t, not on a micro-level. But it sure gives us a different perspective of the bigger picture.

How is Ukraine’s Eurovision victory going to make a difference, you may ask. It won’t, not on a micro-level. But it sure gives us a different perspective of the bigger picture. The leaders of the Western world may be happy to be in bed with a dictator who holds human rights in utter contempt. But many of the people aren’t. Which is why it was thanks to the people’s vote that Ukraine was able to make the strongest anti-Putin political statement during this year’s contest.

The man in the street is – finally – angry and Saturday’s vote was a clear message that most decent people find the idea of sharing a political bed with Putin beyond disgusting.

Now, it’s time for those who can actually change things to follow suit on what their people are telling them. Only, they won’t, will they? Because – politically and financially – they have too much too lose.

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